Weekly news highlights

Pauline Tanti, a 38-year-old mother of two children aged ten and seven, early on Sunday morning was stabbed to death on the doorstep of her mother's home in Rabat, and her estranged husband 44-year-old Gilju, was later found hanged at their home in Nazzarenu Street, Mqabba.

Mrs Tanti was stabbed just as she was leaving to work in her family's bakery at about 5 a.m. Police sources said her husband fled the scene and was found dead some hours later.

Mrs Tanti was stabbed three times in her abdomen. She died later in the morning at the hospital's intensive care unit.

Big-budget film to be shot in Malta

Ridley Scott, director of the blockbuster Gladiator, a good part of which was shot in Malta, has once again chosen the island for the filming of a major, $150 million-budget film, it was learned on Tuesday.

The film is reuniting Oscar-winning actor Russell Crowe (who played the title role in Gladiator) with Scott and Gladiator's producer Branko Lustig.

Ben Kingsley is also lined up to star in the historical drama, called Tripoli, set in 19th-century North Africa.

Filming the epic is expected to start in May, and to run for about eight weeks, while preparatory work is already under way and sets are scheduled to start being built in September.

Man drowns at Dwejra

The body of Daniel Mamo, 23, of Pembroke, on Sunday was recovered from the sea at Dwejra, Gozo.

Mamo, a sports diver, was reported missing at about 6.40 p.m. by a woman who was accompanying him on a dinghy while he was diving close to the General's Rock.

An AFM Alouette helicopter with two rescuers on board from Luqa and a dinghy with two divers from the Explosives Ordnance Depot on Manoel Island were sent to Dwejra. After a search, the man's body was recovered from a depth of about 30 metres.

Two firms to lay off 200 workers

About 200 workers are to be laid off by two clothing companies, one of which is to close down, the General Workers Union said on Thursday.

The union said Medwear Clothing and Estro Clothing, both located at Kordin industrial estate, were facing financial difficulties.

Medwear Clothing, which has been making men's jackets for 24 years, is to close down in a few weeks' time. It employs 160 workers, who were given their discharge notices on Thursday morning, an hour after the secretary of the union's textile workers section, Roberto Cristiano, was informed about the decision to close down by the company's owner.

Estro Clothing, which makes jeans, on Thursday issued discharge notices to 40 of its 90 employees. The factory has been operating since May last year after buying SJI clothing.

Lm50,000 worth of undeclared alcohol, mobile phones seized

Customs officials on Wednesday seized undeclared alcohol and 780 mobile phones worth thousands of Maltese liri soon after the cargo arrived from Sicily on the ferry Island Seaway.

A 24-year-old man from Zabbar is expected to be arraigned in court in connection with the case.

The customs department said the haul consisted of 21 boxes each containing six bottles and two boxes each containing 12 bottles of whisky, vodka, Campari and Baileys and 780 mobile phones.

The department said the haul was valued at Lm50,000, excluding excise duties and VAT which had not been paid.

Austrian foreign minister in Malta

Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner was in Malta on an official visit on Friday.

During her stay, Dr Ferrero-Waldner met President Guido de Marco, Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami, Foreign Minister Joe Borg and MLP deputy leader George Vella.